


redeemable

by covellite



Series: ARFOV [14]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen, M/M, Mentions of Violence, the google doc for this fic is titled tango has a crisis which i think sums it up pretty well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29280639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/covellite/pseuds/covellite
Summary: Tango left Zedaph and Impulse so that he could go back to his old way of life. He didn't expect it to be so hard.
Relationships: Tango Tek & Welsknight
Series: ARFOV [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059134
Comments: 5
Kudos: 20





	redeemable

He was watching.

The human kept walking through the trees, unaware of the threat hiding in the branches above her. She was humming a little tune to herself as she walked, and the carefree way she moved reminded him painfully of-

He brushed that thought aside. Zedaph was in the past. There was no reason to observe the human’s little quirks; he’d only make himself upset. She didn’t matter. Her little song didn’t matter.

Her humming came to an abrupt halt as he jumped out of the trees in front of her, baring his teeth in a way that might technically be considered a grin. She stumbled back, and he moved closer. She looked strong for a human, but her backpack and the uneven ground would slow her down. Killing her would be beyond trivial. He almost wanted to let her go and wait for something more exciting.

As he took another step forward he made the mistake of looking her in the eyes. They were quickly filling with tears even as she held her hands up in a weak imitation of a fighting stance. Her shoulders were shaking.

He couldn’t kill her.

“Go,” he said, voice strangled. She stared at him wide-eyed before turning and running off. He stood, trembling, wondering why he let her go. He wanted to go after her, just to prove to himself that he hadn’t gone soft. But he couldn’t bring himself to move.

A figure emerged from the trees. It was Impulse’s friend, Wels or something. He was looking at Tango with some strange expression on his face.

“What do you want?” It didn’t come out nearly as rude as Tango wanted.

“You let her go.”

“She wasn’t interesting enough,” Tango defended. “I wanted something more interesting. Don’t read into it.”

Wels came closer and smiled carefully. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Why are you here?” Tango asked. Wels shrugged.

“Impulse and Zedaph were upset. They were worried something had happened to you.”

“Well, as you can see, I’m fine.” He narrowed his eyes. “You left Impulse alone with him?”

“His self-control is a lot better now,” Wels promised. “I trust him.”

Tango didn’t want to say he didn’t trust Impulse, so he said nothing. Wels looked around.

“You haven’t fed in a while, have you? Not since you started traveling with Zedaph probably. Must’ve been hard letting that human go.”

Tango wrinkled his nose, not wanting to admit just how recently he’d fed. “So?”

“You didn’t want to kill her.”

Tango growled in frustration. “Fine! You’re right. I’ve gone soft.” He ran a hand through his hair, doing nothing to calm his wild mind. “I hate this. I hate it. I’ve never cared for humans before, even when I was one,” he said, mostly to himself.

Wels frowned slightly. “Really?” Tango wanted to laugh.

“Really.”

He stomped off into the trees, rolling his eyes when he heard Wels follow.

“Go away.”

“I can’t go back until I know you’re alright.”

“I’m alright.”

“I don’t think you are.” Wels had caught up, and grabbed Tango’s arm. “Come back. Zedaph and Impulse are worried.”

“I don’t care.” His voice cracked as he spoke, and Tango was horrified to feel tears start rolling down his face. “I want to be alone.”

He sat down in the dirt, swiping at his tears and wishing he hadn’t left his jacket back at the cabin. Wels sat next to him silently.

“How do you do it?” Tango asked quietly. Wels cocked his head.

“Do what?”

“Don’t you want to kill them? Don’t you want their blood? How do you stop yourself?” He looked at his hands, imagining them stained with blood. The image didn’t excite him like it used to. No energy flowed through his veins at the thought of ripping a human apart.

“Five hundred years of practice,” Wels said. “You learn to ignore it.”

Tango blinked at him. “It doesn’t go away?”

“Depends on how you look at it. Usually I don’t notice it at all, but it’s harder if someone’s bleeding.”

“It fades.”

“It fades,” Wels agreed. “And surprisingly quickly. You remember how Impulse was when you met him? He’s able to be around a bleeding human now. Only took a few years.”

Tango considered that. Impulse’s sense of smell was astronomically better than his own, but Impulse had cared about humans his entire life. Tango had spent the past hundred and fifty years killing them for fun. He remembered how Impulse had looked the day after the party. Tango had never once felt that kind of remorse about death, even when he was human.

“I’m not like Impulse,” he said. “He never wanted to be a vampire. I begged them to turn me. I like killing people. I’m not redeemable.”

“I don’t think you get to decide that.”

“Then who does?”

“Well, Impulse and Zedaph seem to think there’s good in you, and I trust Impulse’s judgement. So would X if you let me introduce you.”

They made awkward eye contact. “Really?”

“Really.” Wels offered him a hand. Tango hesitantly took it.

They stood together and Wels smiled brightly at him.

“Come on. Let’s get you home.”


End file.
